Live it up in your lounge

Your lounge is the one room where the family spends a lot of time to relax, catch up and be entertained in. We look at some top tips on how to arrange furniture to make the room practical as well as look striking

The four major basics

Track traffic flow

 The layout of the room, the entrances and exits, as well as the furniture placement, will largely dictate the traffic flow and space. Leave enough space around your furniture so that people can comfortably and easily walk from one side of the room to the other

Up against a wall

In larger rooms it is better to place pieces closer together in order to create a more intimate setting than against the wall. As long as the backs of the various pieces of furniture are finished, there is no reason why they shouldn’t be on display

Establish a focal point

Pinpoint the focal point of the room, and then design the room and place the furniture around it. The focal point can be anything – from a fireplace, to a bay window, or even a standout occasional chair, rug or objet d’art

Conversation areas

The main purpose of the lounge is a place for people to relax and spend time together. The furniture should be placed in a manner that makes it easy for people to comfortably communicate with one another

Size and placement

Measure it up

Living room furniture makes up a sizeable investment, so it is essential that the pieces you choose suit the space from a functional and aesthetic point of view. Measure the space and draw up a floor plan of the room in question, before you buy any furniture. Sketch the room on a piece of graph paper, and cut out square blocks that are the same size as each piece of furniture that you want to purchase. Move them around and see where they will be best placed. This way, you can be sure that the pieces fit in the room.

Rugs and carpets

When choosing rugs ensure they are large enough so that all the furniture can sit on top of the rug. If this is not possible, then ensure that the front legs of all upholstered pieces rest on top of the rug.

Couches and chairs

These should be proportionate to the room in question, as comfortable as possible, and visually appealing. Corner units are inclined to catch home decorators out when it comes to getting them through the door and into the lounge. Claire Gibson from La-Z-Boy, explains: “For smaller living rooms, you can invest in inclining motion furniture, instead of reclining furniture. Unlike a recliner, where the back of the seat reclines, the seat of an incliner moves forward to make space for the back to recline. This way, an incliner does not need extra space for reclining, and it can be positioned really close to a wall.”

Coffee tables

Coffee tables usually in the centre of the lounge should have a height that is slightly lower than the seating surrounding it, be approximately one-and-a-half, to two-thirds the length of the neighbouring couch and be placed in such a manner that you can easily lean over and reach from your seated position.

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